Two out candidates seeking board seats have received jolts
of momentum in recent weeks, though, increasing their chances of being victorious.

Gay journalist Joel Engardio, running for the open District
7 seat west of Twin Peaks, received a surprise endorsement from the San
Francisco Chronicle in his race. He is touting
the paper's backing on door hangers at every house in the district.

None of the better-known candidates in the race –
Norman Yee, president of the city's school board, former Port Commissioner
Francis "FX" Crowley, and Board of Appeals President Mike Garcia
– has been able to break out as a clear frontrunner. The outcome is likely
to come down to the city's instant voter runoff system, giving Engardio a
chance to eke out a victory and become the first out person elected to a
supervisor seat from a district on the city's west side.

"This race is anyone's, I think," Engardio told
the Bay Area Reporter this week. "I
think I can pull off an upset miracle no one expected because anecdotally I
keep running into people who say they voted for me or their friend or neighbor
told them about me. The signs look good."

The contest for the District 5 seat, held by incumbent
Supervisor Christina Olague, continues to be upended following her vote to
reinstate Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi. Appointed to succeed Mirkarimi, a former
supervisor, earlier this year, Olague is running to become the first out
bisexual to be elected supervisor.

Her chances also improved after one of her main challengers,
Julian Davis, became embroiled in a sexual misconduct scandal. But those upset
with her bucking Mayor Ed Lee, who appointed her to the seat and wanted
Mirkarimi ousted due to a domestic violence incident between the sheriff and
his wife, are gunning to defeat Olague.

"We cannot allow her to roll back the progress we have
made in preventing domestic violence and protecting survivors and so we
have joined with other women and anti-domestic violence advocates to oppose her
election," stated Andrea Shorter, an out lesbian and former president of
the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women, who appears in a video on
the website.

The latest hit against Olague comes after a number of
progressive leaders, such as former Mayor Art Agnos and District 6 Supervisor
Jane Kim, have rallied to her defense. They recently gathered on the steps of City
Hall to tout her candidacy.

"Being progressive is not about being a robot,"
stated gay rights activist and labor organizer Cleve Jones, who took part in
the rally. "Christina is not a cookie-cutter, but she's exactly what we
should expect from a progressive leader: she is compassionate, independent,
purposeful – and she knows her shit!"

With a number of strong challengers in the race, such as
London Breed, executive director of the African American Art and Culture
Complex, and City College Board of Trustees President John Rizzo, the contest
for the Haight and Western Addition-based district is considered a toss up to be
decided based on ranked choice voting.

As he fights for re-election in District 1, Supervisor Eric
Mar could become the first incumbent to lose his seat in more than a decade.
His opponent, David Lee, has hammered Mar as being out of touch with the needs
of the Richmond district.

Money has been flooding into all three of the supervisor
races. As of Tuesday more than $1.1 million had been spent on the District 1
race, with the bulk of the funds ($705,207) going toward electing Lee.

In District 7 the Ethics Commission this week raised the
campaign spending limits for Engardio, Garcia and Crowley to $350,000, and raised
the amount for Yee to $370,000. Total spending in the race is expected to
exceed $1.5 million.

The limit for candidates receiving public matching funds in
District 5 – Olague, Davis, Rizzo and Thea Selby, a Lower Haight
neighborhood activist – stood at $310,000 as of this week due to the money
being spent on behalf of Breed's campaign surpassing that amount.

"I think what we are seeing is really disturbing in the
11th hour this huge influx of cash from really wealthy downtown interests that
are having a big impact on the races," said Tom Temprano, the vice
president of external affairs for the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club.

The District 3 supervisor race, where Board President David
Chiu is running against three little known opponents – Marc Bruno, Joseph
Butler, and Wilma Pang– for the North Beach centered seat has not drawn
much notice this year. Nonetheless, Chiu raised more than $240,000 since
January. And last month he reported having $123,815 in his campaign coffers.

Gay District 9 Supervisor David Campos is running unopposed
for a second term representing the Mission and Bernal Heights neighborhoods. He
is on track to have spent more than $110,000 this year, despite facing no
opposition for his seat.

In the adjacent District 11, Supervisor John Avalos is also
running unopposed. He had raised nearly $60,000 as of late last month for his
bid.

With Campos, Avalos, and Chiu (should he win) all termed out
of office in 2016, the three are seen as possible candidates to run for the
state Assembly seat now held by Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), who will be
termed out of office himself in 2014.

Speculation has swirled around Campos, in particular, as
being a likely candidate, having already succeeded Ammiano on the board. He has
yet to form a state committee to run for the legislative seat, but is likely to
do so as early as next year to begin laying the groundwork for a campaign.